


At Long Last

by IowaGuy1979



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, First Loves, captain and first mate forever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:55:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25131238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IowaGuy1979/pseuds/IowaGuy1979
Summary: After the ruination of their home, Max and Chloe find a new one.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	At Long Last

As Chloe and Max drove away from the destruction of the town they had grown up in, no words were said. After a hour’s drive, they managed to find a cheap motel that didn’t look like cockroaches were the main tenants.

They brought in what little they had taken with them. Changes of clothes. The very few photos that had survived the near obliteration of the Price home. 

“Gonna take a shower, Max.” Chloe said, kind of listlessly. She stepped into the bathroom, and said shower started a few minutes later.

As Max was making sure that all that they had wanted was there, not that it really mattered, they were never going back, a jewel case fell out. Labelled MAX MUSIC, in Chloe’s distinct block lettering.

“she.. she made a mix CD about me?”, Max whispered

One of the other things that had miraculously survived the storm, was a small boombox they had found in the wreckage of a house, a few blocks away from the Price home.

As she plugged the boombox into a outlet, the shower stopped running.

Max inserted the disc, and hit play. A digital 01 in red appeared on the display, and a quiet guitar began

This is my dream

It’s not what it was before

All these feelings I’ve shared

And these are my dreams

That I’ve never lived before

Max gasped, tears beginning to form.

She remembered the last time she had heard that song.

It was two weeks before she had left Arcadia Bay.

They had been coloring in Chloe’s room. Chloe had initially said coloring was for kids, but, that was just to keep up her tough girl image. She soon backed down in the force of Max’s puppy eyes.

The radio was softly playing, and Max could suddenly hear it, crystal clear

These are my words

that I’ve never said before

I think I’m doing okay

and this is the smile

that I’ve never shown before

Immediately, her mind conjured up a image from earlier in that day.

They had been playing around as pirates, as they had done so many times before.

Chloe was going in, to point her wooden sword at Max’s chest, winning the duel.

Suddenly, Max feinted, spinning around Chloe.

Twisting her around, she tapped he sword on Chloe’s chest.

“Do ye yield, Captain Bluebeard?”, she smirked.

“Aye, that I do, First Mate.”

“Max, that was great! You moved like a ninja! So proud of you!”

Her smile outshone the sun that dappled the trees around them

Somebody shake me cause I

must be sleeping

As she came back to the room, she glanced over at her Captain, coloring a shark blue. The breath fled her lungs.

She was in love with Chloe Elizabeth Price.

I’m so afraid of waking

please don’t shake me

afraid of waking

please don’t shake me

Max swallowed against a lump in her throat.

There was no way, no possible way Chloe felt that way about her.

She was her First Mate, nothing more.

As she took a deep breath to calm herself, she resolved that Chloe could never know.

These weird feelings were stupid. They'd would ruin what they had.

As she took one more glance at the love she could never have, she softly whispered “never”

As older Max came back to the motel room, a door opened.

I’m so afraid of waking 

please don’t don’t shake me

afraid of waking

please don’t shake me

A pair of strong, yet slender arms slid around her body.

“I remember the time I heard this song, coloring with you. I couldn’t bear to look at you, because I remembered that fight, earlier that day. You looked so happy that you had defeated me. No way I could stay mad at you. I realized I was in love with you, that day.”

Max took in a deep breath. Did.. did she mean?

“The next day, I talked to Dad. I told him how I felt about you, that there was no way you could feel the same way. I told him that I was a freak, a weirdo for those feelings. He said something I’ve never forgotten. ‘Honey, you are not a freak for those feelings. Love is a wonderful, beautiful gift. I can almost guarantee you that Max feels the same’” 

She turned Max around, a sad smile on her face.

“I shook my head, told him there was no way. He said ‘Even if she doesn’t feel the same way, that will never tear you apart. You will always be Max and Chloe, Captain and First Mate, no matter what’”

Max could barely see it through her own tears, but Chloe’s face was wet, as well.

“I love you, Maxine Caulfield. Loved you since before I even knew I did”

Max whispered, “Me, too. I thought that my feelings were weird and wrong, so I stuffed them down inside. I thought you’d never feel the same. And, then….”, she choked

shh, Max Power, all that’s in the past”, Chloe said with the same smile she remembered from that day, so long ago.

Max chuckled wetly at the nick name.

I can feel that face the day, and I can forgive

And I’m not ashamed

To be the person that I am today

It was something out of a cheesy romance novel, but, they said “I love you with all that I am” in unison, before their lips met. 

They had been waiting so long, and it was totally perfect

**Author's Note:**

> I heard this song on my Spotify earlier today. "So far away", made me think of Chloe and Max, after the Bay is destroyed. But, the nature of the song gave the idea a more positive spin, than you'd usually think of the situation.  
> "this is my smile, that I've never shown before", inspired the scene of kid Max and Chloe. Thought of a young Chloe, just smiling at Max, with that smile you only use with the one you love. Of course, because they're kids, they haven't realized it yet. 
> 
> So Far Away is by Staind.
> 
> I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it! :)


End file.
